Out of every 10 X5/X6 that I see on the road, 3 are M's. There is a lot of demand for these cars.

I wouldn't be so sure to judge these big heavy SUV's before driving one. They are very good for what they are. Sure, they may not be what we're used to M cars being, but IMO, BMW saw an opportunity to extend their M model range, and took it and has become very successful in doing so by demolishing the competitors, namely ML63, current Cayenne Turbo S, etc

+1, I don't understand why everyone hates on these cars. You already have the X5/X6 why not extend the M division and take on the Cayenne Turbo, Range Rover Sport etc. The X6M is the most appealing SUV out there IMO.

I think everyone here agrees the 135i is a great little car, how can the 1M be a disappointment when it is basically a 135 with M suspension, Brakes, LSD, body work, more rubber, etc. Sounds like a winner to me, the extra $10K premium for these goodies seems fair over a similarly equipped 135i. And why such a hot debate on how much HP BMW rates it at? To me it doesn't matter one bit, that's why we have Terry

Besides, the sales are completely flat for these two M cars as well so "failure" is not out of the question either.

you have sales figures. And sales figures vs their competitors, the ML63 AMG, Porsche Cayenne Turbo S?
Which what the X5/ X6 M was made to go against, and handly beats, so well that Jeep has made the M's the benchmark for it's upcoming SRT8 version.

This car will be good, but to those who think it will be the M3's hot younger sister, we won't know until we she her, and we have to have a first date to see her "personality"...

You guys who are saying he can't drive just made it obvious -- you have never driven a car on a racetrack. And have likely never ridden shotgun either.

By the sound you can tell he's throttle steering out of many of the corners, sliding the tail out, controlling it, and giving the passenger a real thrill ride.

The fastest line around the track will sometimes take you over curbing on some corners, on some tracks.

The problem with the video is that the "journalist" in the passenger seat also has never driven a car at the edge, on a track, and therefore captured NONE of the driver's steering inputs. That is what is exciting about this... not just shooting straight out the front. jeez.

What you can tell from the video is that this car will slide the tail out and is controllable out of the corners (good) but we can't see how much correction the driver is doing to compensate.... knowing it's a BMW, it's probably a nice easy slide and countersteer.... would have been fun to watch that part.

You guys who are saying he can't drive just made it obvious -- you have never driven a car on a racetrack. And have likely never ridden shotgun either.

Thanks
By the way, the driver is Günter Schillinger, test engineer of ///M. I think is quite a good driver. Don't know how many laps on the nordschleife he has under his belt....
But of course: Everybody here seems to be a better driver